Last Wednesday, December 20, the Tenafly High School HSA hosted its annual staff luncheon for present and previous high school staff to come interact and enjoy a fun-filled, extravagant lunch. The event included a grand buffet with a variety of beloved food; however, the staff explained that the food, although fantastic, was not the best part.
“My favorite part of the event, I think, is just getting a chance to sit with friends and talk. We’re all so busy here, our teaching day, we’re all in different places at different times, and a lot of old teachers, not old in age, but former teachers come back and I get to see old friends, which is great,” said Mr. Graziano, a teacher of Digital Art, Animation, and Sculpture. Graziano has been coming to the luncheon event for nine years and enjoys spending time with his teacher friends more than the actual food. Although spending time with his friends is enjoyable, the exquisite cuisine is something that Graziano looks forward to every year. “There’s so much to choose from. It’s hard to pick what’s best, but the dessert is amazing. I started with dessert, then moved into the meal.” The dessert seems to be the most popular part of the menu according to many teachers!
When we spoke with Mr. Mirabito, a teacher of History and Entrepreneurship, and Mr. Petrozzo, a teacher of Child Psych and AACC, we were given the ability to further understand why this event is a staff favorite. When asked about the luncheon, Mr. Miabito responded, “So, I don’t think it is the food, I think it’s the opportunity to be with your coworkers and your friends and get to see people from different departments that you don’t always get to see all the time. You get to catch up with people and find out how they’re doing. And, we work as hard here as do the students, and it’s nice for the staff to have an opportunity to kind of stop, you know, and get to talk to each other.” Having attended for nine years, Mirabito still likes seeing different teachers and spending time with them, rather than just eating the food. Petrozzo feels the same way about the event.“I think that this is probably one of the happiest days collectively for all the teachers in the building,” he said. This is Petrozzo’s third year attending the event and he doesn’t intend to stop coming for a long time! Both Mirabito and Petrozzo have had to miss at least one luncheon throughout their years teaching at the high school. They describe missing the event as “heartbreaking” and “very unfortunate.” The two have made promises to themselves to do whatever they can to be at the event.
After learning a few of the staff members’ opinions on the gathering, we spoke to the event coordinators. Two members of the HSA, Lori Capon and Audrey Kent, contributed to the success of the luncheon. “We’ve been preparing for a few months,” said Capon. “We coordinated all the food deliveries from various local restaurants in Tenafly which are very generous to the community. We also had parents give money donations and we added some exciting options like shrimp and special desserts. We did a 100th anniversary cake this year for Tenafly and it’s such a nice event and we just love helping the teachers and thanking them for everything they do for us and the community.” Kent also expressed gratitude to the many contributors to the event.“The CPAT and the KPA also volunteer and contribute a lot of food and it’s a diverse menu and everybody seems to love it,” said Kent. This is Capon’s third year helping with the event, and it has evolved a lot since her first time helping. During the COVID-19 era, the food was sent to teachers in boxes, which didn’t enable them to socialize with each other. However, just a few years later, teachers can talk to each other while enjoying delicious food once again. Capon also added that all the remaining food after the event is donated to a local food pantry, the Food Bridge.
A big thank you to the teachers, staff and the HSA for all your hard work! We hope everyone had a great luncheon and are looking forward to next year!
